Poll: Nearly 80 percent of Americans say they are Christian

By Adelle M. Banks, Religion news service

Published 4:50 pm, Thursday, January 5, 2012

More than three-quarters of Americans identify themselves as Christian, Gallup reports. Pollsters found that 78 percent of Americans identify with Christianity. Overall, more than 82 percent of Americans have a religious identity, with this percentage breakdown:

52.5: Protestant/other Christian

23.6: Catholic

1.9: Mormon

1.6: Jewish

0.5: Muslim

2.4: Other non-Christian

15: None/atheist/agnostic

2.5: No response

The findings fit the trend of an increasing percentage of Americans who do not embrace a formal religious identity.

In 1951, 1 percent of Americans did not have a religious identity, compared to 24 percent identifying as Catholic and 68 percent claiming a non-Catholic Christian faith.

Gallup found earlier this year that 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God, which suggests that a lack of religious identity is not necessarily linked to atheism.